Zulithan

The Midnight Desert

Zulithan is a land of mystery and romance. It's landscape is filled with black-to-gray sand and its sun is nearly constantly dimmed or blocked by ash storms blown from the Dusk Mountains by the Maelstorm. Those same mountains supply one of the deepest and widest rivers in Centras, the Rahiel, around which some of the richest farming in the world is had. During the second age Rahiel-grown grain was used to support the massive Romali population.

Geography

Akhetzul Thunderwall

The result of a failed attempt to stop the ash clouds of the Dusk Mountains from destroying Old Orises, the Akhetzul Thunderwall is a series of magic towers built in intervals to corral and dissipate the ash clouds descending from higher elevations. The line was built downstream of Khemetu-Arher, which was already considered lost, and was never completed, but the towers that were built span over a hundred miles. Though not able to prevent the unending darkness of the Midnight Desert, the towers do have a limited effect to gather and reduce the ash clouds, but with results its creators likely did not intend. The constant swirling collection of ash leads to regular waves of “ash rain,” but also to high levels of static electricity that cause near continuous storms of dry lightning. These lightning strikes have damaged some, but not most, of the towers, but make for perilous travel to the upper reaches of the Rahiel.

Khemotaph Vale

The Khemotaph Vale, or “Valley of the Dead” was originally an eastern section of the Rahiel delta, and housed some of the most fertile and productive lands of Orises. Now it is a barren place where the tombs of those who perished after the Maelstorm's creation lie among a sprawling broken necropolis. In the aftermath of the cataclysm, the delta between the major eastern branches of the Rahiel were filled in, reclaiming land in order to build millions of graves and other monuments to the fallen, large and small. These were soon buried under the ash-dunes wrought from the Dusk Mountains, and further earthquakes and tidal waves heaved white limestone shards into the sky and flooded many of the ruins left beneath them. The region was completely abandoned, leaving the ghosts of the dead to roam alone among the miles of cracked tombs, wind-blasted gravestones, and flooded crypts.

The vale culminates in the ruins of Rebkhemez in the south, the “Red King's Rest,” which reach to the shores of the Rahiel and was the ancient capital of the 1st Age “Lower Kingdom” of Orises. On the eastern side of the ruins lie the largest site for the fabled pyramids of Zulithan. Five major pyramids are built mostly in a line of unknown significance, and are encased in pure limestone and capped with gold. The largest, called Rehuirtu's Pyramid, uses a crystal capstone that glows bright blue, while the 3rd largest, called Hedjteb's Pyramid, has an crystalline artificial eight pointed star stood upon the golden capstone that glows and twinkles pure white.

Mheqsoris Starcreche

Osatayneh

An fortress-dam built along a line of fortifications that extend miles into the desert, like much of Zulithan the Osatayneh dates deep into history. Legend says it was originally built as a way for the High Kingdom to make a clear statement to the elites downstream - remain loyal or have the life-giving Rahiel blocked. With the coming and going of aeons the fortifications were expanded and improved by each successive dynasty. In the 4th Age the region is used as informal up-river boundary upon which the wildest Zulit tribes both trade with, and avoid the control of, the Middle Kingdom.

Rahiel Delta

Once one the most fertile stretch of land in the world, the Rahiel delta was once the breadbasket that fed the whole of the Romalian Empire. With the coming of the perpetual ash clouds the floodplains of the delta would have been made even more fertile, except the descent into eternal night meant the delta could no longer produce grain, regardless of the rich soil. Over the centuries much effort was made by the Middle Kingdom to restart the productivity of the delta, but the artificial light used has had only limited success. Still, the delta is the most populous province of Zulithan, and the prosperous outside the capital of Khemetu-Tawi. Food is now mostly shipped up-river instead of abroad, but the region is also the most outward facing and cosmopolitan. The provincial capital of Oriwynn, the “Slumbering Haven,” is the only deep harbor suitable for trade with the outside world, its approach lit by the remains of the fallen Colossus.

Rahiel Floodplains

The corridor of land around the Rahiel, like the delta at its mouth, is fed by predictable seasonal flooding. Though relatively narrow, this narrow strip has produced grain surpluses since the dawn of man. With the cataclysm of the Great War the light of the sun was forever blocked, and the fertility of the floodplains collapsed along with the delta. With the loss of the sun and millions dead, a small mercy was discovered. Fostep - small glassy beads that glow with a light able to grow plants - were soon found flowing down the Rahiel in small but regular amounts. These were collected into large containers so they could be concentrated to light limited, but extremely productive, crop fields. Luminescent algae was also cultivated, leading to the Rahiel Floodplains becoming a narrow strip of both life and light in the eternal midnight.

Rhabotem Void

History

Zulithan sits on the literal ashes of the Kingdom of Orises from the 2nd Age. The Old Kingdom had faded in the 2nd Age and was a nominal vassal of the Romalian Empire, but was still considered a center of culture and magic. This period is often called the 'High Kingdom' by the Zulithan, for its capital Khemetu was seated far upstream on the Rahiel. The modern ruins of Khemetu-Arher are all that remain of the old capital.

Like other parts of the Romalian Empire the High Kingdom suffered greatly during the Great War, but was utterly destroyed by the Maelstorm. Without consistent sunlight the Rahiel breadbasket failed completely, and within a decade millions were dead and the proud Orisesi people were reduced to scattered nomadic tribes.

These survivors began to eschew the name Orises (land of starlight) and instead took the name Zulithan (those who meditate).

Government

The “Middle Kingdom” is theoretically ruled by an absolute king (or Parhru) from Khemetu-Tawi, but the practical realities of the midnight dunes mean that the position is purely ceremonial and holds no real authority. Most Zulit tribes owe yearly labor to a local Yahnvaist temple, who coordinate limited national efforts within the elite priesthood.

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